


Flux

by liziscribbles



Series: Outlaws [2]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Akechi is a Dick, Alternate Universe - Space, Futuristic, Like A Major Dick, M/M, Mid 20's Phantom Thieves, Mind Control, Ships Don't Appear Until Later, Space Pirates, mental manipulation, part of a series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2019-11-26 18:16:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18184073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liziscribbles/pseuds/liziscribbles
Summary: The last thing Yusuke remembered before being knocked unconscious was a battle to the death.  Upon waking up on an unfamiliar ship, surrounded by unfamiliar people, how will he react?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is part two of Outlaws! In order to fully understand what's going on, it's highly recommended that you read [part one](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18161870/chapters/42950984) first!

Before Yusuke regained consciousness, while his subconscious still floated around the blackness in the corner of his mind, he felt something strange. Over the years, Yusuke had gotten used to the staticky haze his body floated in. However, while his body rested, it was almost like someone flipped a switch. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Yusuke felt the haze dissipate and just as suddenly, his mind was silent. He didn't feel weighed down, like he was being bent to submission anymore. Silence. Emptiness. Nothing. It was unfamiliar, but not unpleasantly so.

In the silence, one by one, Yusuke could feel his senses beginning to return.

The first of Yusuke's senses to show itself was his sense of smell. While Yusuke wasn't sure where he was, he was sure of one thing: he could smell chemicals. Unlike the acrid stench of research chemicals or combat chemicals he was accustomed to, these chemicals smelled clean. Though it wasn't Yusuke's favorite smell, he could honestly say he preferred it to the odious chemicals he was used to. Yusuke took the next breath slower than the last, and behind the chemical smell, he picked up the pleasant scent of jasmine incense and coffee. The aroma eased his body's transition into the awakening of its next sense.

All of a sudden, Yusuke couldn't help but feel like he was warmer than usual. Susano-o was, of course, a frozen planet, and it was impossible to keep a base warm. Madarame always complained about the cold, but he also made a conscious effort to keep the base as cold as possible without freezing himself, to ensure bodyguards like Yusuke were always alert and ready to fight. The comfortable warmth was Yusuke's first hint that, perhaps, he wasn't on Susano-o anymore. His second hint came when he realized his arm was in a particularly odd position. While the rest of his body was warm and wrapped in blankets, his arm was slightly colder, and craned upward. He felt the familiar thrumming vibration of particle energy wrapped around his wrist.

For a moment, he found himself wanting to ask why his wrist was craned, but his voice was trapped in the back of his throat. _That_ feeling was all too familiar, and Yusuke's lips drew down into a frown.

Taste was the next sense to return, but Yusuke almost wished it hadn't. His mouth felt strange. It felt dry, like someone had placed a giant ball of cotton inside to absorb all the saliva. Beyond that was the unpleasant flavor presently invading his taste buds, and worsening with every inward breath. His mouth tasted like copper. Yusuke frowned, swirling his tongue around to try and rid his mouth of the unpleasant feeling and taste, to absolutely no avail.

Slowly, tentatively, Yusuke tried to open his eyes. At first, they protested. His body was tired, and he wanted to sleep for a little while longer. However, his curiosity outweighed any tiredness and though they were heavy, Yusuke's eyelids lifted slowly. The ceiling of whatever room Yusuke was in was made of metal, but it wasn't familiar metal. Madarame's base on Susano-o was made of unpainted chrome, but this ceiling was black. Yusuke couldn't identify the metal, but it was unimportant at the moment. His eyes moved slightly, traveling around to try to get his bearings and figure out where he was.

Four people were in the room with him, none of whom were currently paying any attention to him. There was a woman in a doctor's jacket, who typed away at a holographic display with a plethora of unfamiliar medical words on it. Next to her, looking over her shoulder, was a younger woman with curly auburn hair and a pink jacket. She was monitoring something on the holograph, and though she was speaking, Yusuke couldn't quite hear what she was saying.

Across the room stood a man with long, shaggy brown hair and a taciturn look on his face. There was something strangely familiar about him, even though Yusuke was almost positive he had never seen the man before in his life. He was looking at a wrist display, scrolling on some kind of interface. Everything about his posture showed exactly how unimpressed he was to be there. Yusuke recognized the look as the same look Madarame always had when he was dealing with Yusuke and the other bodyguards.

The last body in the room was sitting in a chair right next to Yusuke's bed. He was resting his head against the wall, looking exhausted and utterly defeated. Yusuke wondered what was wrong, but he only wondered for a second before something else took his attention.

The last of his senses slowly returned, and several realizations dawned on Yusuke at once. First of all, Yusuke realized he could hear two soft, feminine voices lilting into his ears from over by the computer. Secondly, he realized he could hear the soft beeps and sounds coming from the taciturn shaggy-haired man's wrist display. Third, he realized he could hear the soft and rhythmic breathing of the tired man sitting in the chair next to his bed. Fourth, the ambient sounds of a hospital and a ship entered his ears. Beeps and vents, none of which sounded terribly unpleasant. They were simply there, and he didn't mind them at all.

Yusuke's fifth realization—and perhaps the most important one of all—was the one thing he couldn't hear.

For ten years, Yusuke's only constant companion was the high pitched, mind-twisting frequency emanating from his particle implant. It bent him to Madarame's control, pushed his consciousness into the farthest reaches of his mind and somehow turned him into a thrall; a servant who was somehow both willing and unwilling to serve at the same time. Yusuke had spent the last ten years with the ability to see through his eyes, but not control his body, all because the frequency on his implant stripped him of his free will.

As Yusuke's hearing came back to him fully, he quickly came to realize that… the frequency was gone. There was no scream in his ear, no static, nothing forcing him to bend to Madarame's control. It felt almost as though his thoughts were his own.

Experimentally, Yusuke moved his unshackled arm, bringing his hand up to touch his temple where his implant formerly rested. When Yusuke only felt a small strip of gauze bandage, he pulled in a shaky breath. That was when his sixth realization came to him. Of his own free will, he had moved his arm. He had moved his body without being ordered to, and he was continuing to do so as his fingers searched the bandage to the corner, coming into contact with his flesh.

Before Yusuke realized what was happening, tears sprang to his eyes and his body shuddered with his next inhale. He was moving on his own. A soft whimper came with the exhale, and Yusuke's eyes filled with tears even further.

"He's awake," an unfamiliar masculine voice rang out.

A second voice, a soft but stern female voice, quickly followed. "Put your gun down, Akechi!"

"No," the first voice snapped back.

Another male voice, this one significantly lower but also stern, came next. "Lower your gun, Akechi. That's an order."

"Kurusu—"

The lower male voice snapped back, cutting this 'Akechi' off. "No. Don't 'Kurusu' me. Lower your gun before I make you leave," he commanded.

Yusuke was only aware of the sounds of the argument. He hadn't looked in that direction yet. His attention was on the woman in the doctor's jacket—Takemi, her name tag read—as she hovered over him and checked his vital signs. Her hands were gentle as they pried his eyes open, flashing a bright light in them and making Yusuke wince.

"I know," she murmured gently, her voice trying to sound amused. "It sucks. Gotta make sure there was no lasting damage, though."

As much as Yusuke wanted to answer, his voice was caught in his throat, trapped behind more tears. Yusuke wanted to look around, too, to try and figure out what was going on around him, but he couldn't. The light kept his vision completely blocked from anything but the doctor and his immediate periphery, and Dr. Takemi gave him a gentle smile as she looked him over.

"Looks like there's no lasting damage, at least nothing I can see from a first look. Here," the woman continued, placing a straw in Yusuke's mouth. "Drink."

Maybe he shouldn't have followed the order, in case this unfamiliar woman was trying to poison him or something, but he was thirsty. Yusuke took a pull from the straw, and it was almost as though he could feel the water as it trickled down his throat and dissipated through the rest of his body. He kept drinking until nothing more came through the straw, and then tried to drink more still, wincing when nothing but air came back.

Dr. Takemi glanced at him with a gentle laugh. "You're lucky you're not dehydrated," she teased softly. "Wouldn't've been able to let you do that."

"Th-thank you," Yusuke rasped.

Yusuke glanced at his hand where it was cuffed to the bed. Awareness seeped in, as well as the memory of the fight. The other man, the shaggy brown-haired one, stared at him angrily. Yusuke couldn't get past the feeling of familiarity that washed over him when he looked at the man. For now, he pushed it aside. Suddenly, he was acutely aware of the fact that these very well may have been his last moments of freedom. He pondered it for a moment, but the thought only brought forth the realization that he probably shouldn't have been free. After everything he'd done, he should have been jailed… or killed.

A soft voice, gentler than the doctor's but higher pitched and feminine, entered Yusuke's ears. "It seems like you want to say something," she told him, crouching next to the bed.

"I…" Yusuke started.

An indignant huff came from the brown-haired man, who looked upon Yusuke judgmentally. Yusuke's voice caught in his throat, and he quickly flicked his eyes away from everyone else in the room. Instead, he focused on the wall, but he could still feel all four sets of eyes on him. Shuffled movements came from the other side of the room, and before Yusuke's mind could even catch up, the dark-haired man had crouched down to meet his eye.

The man's gaze was gentle from behind a pair of thick-rimmed glasses, and Yusuke was surprised by his kindness. Immediately, Yusuke recognized his eyes. The soft gray eyes were the same ones Yusuke saw back on Susano-o. The man he'd fought with and almost killed. If they'd fought so fiercely; if Yusuke had almost killed the man… why was he here? Why was the man being so kind to him? Why wasn't he dead? The cavalcade of questions mixed with Yusuke's confusion and uncertainty, and a whole new wellspring of tears bubbled up into the corners of his eyes.

"It's okay," he kindly reassured Yusuke. "You can talk. We'll listen. What's your name?"

Another disapproving grunt came from the other man, but it was a little bit easier to ignore, with the dark-haired man taking Yusuke's whole focus. "Y-Yusuke," he stammered, using the heel of his unchained palm to wipe the tears from his eyes. "Yusuke Kitagawa."

"Okay, that's a start," the kind man answered with a warm smile, his voice still gentle as he stood up straight and gathered a box of tissues from the counter. He placed them on the side of Yusuke's bed. "I'm Akira Kurusu. Dr. Tae Takemi patched you up, and Haru Okumura has been helping her look after you since we brought you back here. Goro Akechi has been guarding the room." As Kurusu introduced each person, he pointed them out.

The brown-haired man scoffed and muttered under his breath, before turning back to his wrist display. Yusuke got the impression that he wasn't guarding the room to keep other people out, but to keep Yusuke in. Yusuke took a tissue from the box, wiping some tear stains from his cheeks. He still hadn't stopped crying, but in stark contrast to what he was used to, he wasn't being chastised for it. It was strange.

"Akechi," Okumura rumbled threateningly.

Kurusu ignored the spat, focusing his attention on Yusuke instead. "Do you know where you are?"

The last thing Yusuke remembered was fighting on Susano-o. Multiple times, during the fight, he broke free of Madarame's control. Each time, he tried to plead with his combatant—with Kurusu—to kill him; to free him. Why wasn't he dead? Why was he here, on Kurusu's ship, of all places?

"The last thing I recall is fighting… fighting you…" Yusuke confessed, his voice still shaky.

"Yeah. On Susano-o," Kurusu confirmed.

Yusuke swallowed thickly, stress and fear building moisture in his mouth. "I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean… I didn't want… I p-promise I… I know you have no reason to believe me, but I wasn't…"

Kurusu shook his head gently. It looked like he wanted to extend his hand, but thought better of it. "I know," he answered.

That, Yusuke supposed, would explain why his implant was missing. Had they already figured out how Madarame was controlling him, then? It didn't matter. Even if he did somehow know, what did it change? They had fought. If Yusuke had managed to get the upper hand, he would have killed Kurusu, whether he wanted to or not.

"You… you didn't kill me…" Yusuke murmured, in a voice just barely above a whisper.

Kurusu shook his head. "I thought… I got the impression you wanted me to save you," he explained.

Yusuke nodded.

"By killing you?" Kurusu asked, his expression falling.

This time, Yusuke didn't answer. He had a feeling he didn't have to.

Kurusu's expression fell even further. It was strange. Somehow, despite his sadness, his eyes were still teeming with compassion and warmth. Yusuke watched him as he glanced behind him, to Okumura and the doctor, then back down at Yusuke. "No, I didn't kill you. I don't plan to, either."

The man Kurusu had introduced as 'Akechi' grunted in irritation, and countered, "Well, I assume this means we're bringing him to the Bastion, to have the Council deal with him," in a dismissive tone.

"No," Kurusu snapped in reply, casting a quick glare at Akechi, "we aren't."

Dr. Takemi spoke up, after shooting a pointed look at Akechi. "Kitagawa, we're under the impression that your particle implant was tampered with," she explained.

Before Yusuke could reply, Okumura spoke up in his place. "We removed it to take a look at it. Our implant technician is currently fixing it, removing the frequency on it and…" She trailed off suddenly, turning her gaze to Kurusu.

When Kurusu simply nodded and smiled, Yusuke was all the more confused. "I'm sure you're overwhelmed. You just woke up, and you don't even know us from a hole in the ground, but… there's a spot on our team for you if you want it."

"I beg your pardon?" Akechi croaked.

Kurusu simply ignored him. "No one on this crew has any room to talk. We've all been forced to do things in order to survive. Maybe the circumstances were different, it's true, but that doesn't matter. Rather than go to the Bastion to face jail time for things you were forced into, we thought maybe we would give you the same chance we've all had. You know? I asked the others, and they all agree. There's a spot here for you."

Akechi huffed. Yusuke got the impression that he didn't agree, but he didn't speak up this time.

Admittedly, Yusuke was still too stunned to process the situation. He was completely unsure why Kurusu was willing to extend kindness like this, or even if Kurusu truly meant what he was saying. He'd just woken up without his implant screaming at him for the first time in years, and now a man he'd almost been forced to kill was offering him protection? Surely there had to be some kind of strings attached?

"You don't even know me," Yusuke pointed out. "You know what I've done, and you don't even… why would you…"

When Yusuke trailed off, Kurusu shrugged and picked up the slack. "I believe in second chances."

Akechi still looked unimpressed. "Perhaps all the other members of the crew are okay with this development, but I don't think I was ever consulted," he pointed out.

"You've made your opinion abundantly clear, Akechi. However, you're the only one among us with any objections," Okumura pointed out. "The rest of us consider it our best option, provided Kitagawa agrees, of course."

"And I suppose you're all okay with the idea of sleeping in the same quarters as a known murderer?" Akechi continued.

The words, regardless of their truth, felt like a punch to Yusuke's chest. A murderer. Though it wasn't of his own free will, Yusuke supposed that was exactly what he was. Someone who had killed people, who had ended lives. Most of the time, the people he was forced to kill were strangers, but sometimes… sometimes he knew them. Sometimes they were other bodyguards of Madarame's, who had outlived their usefulness. He was a murderer and there were no two ways about it. He swallowed thickly, and choked on more tears, blinking them away and turning his gaze toward Kurusu, who was silent but annoyed.

Kurusu pushed his glasses up to the top of his head, pinching the bridge of his nose and nodding. "Yes, Akechi, they've all expressed that they're fine with him being on the crew, and everything that comes with it. That means having him in the crew quarters."

"How wonderful for us, that you would allow your bleeding heart the possibility to get us all slaughtered," Akechi snarled.

With a sigh, Kurusu turned to look at Akechi. "He can sleep on the couch in my room, then. Will that shut you up?" he asked, his tone beyond exasperated.

Akechi's eyes narrowed and he glared at Kurusu like he'd just been slapped. After a second of silence, he turned to glance from Kurusu to Okumura, and then to Dr. Takemi. Finally, his gaze settled on Yusuke. It was appraising, judging. He huffed again. "We still have yet to hear his answer. I suppose I can still hope that he has some sense of decency and wishes to pay for his—"

"Akechi, I'm going to have to ask you to stop badgering my patient," Dr. Takemi stepped in, cutting Akechi off before he could finish his sentence. "If you can't, then get out. I'm sure there's something else for you to do somewhere on the ship."

For a solid five seconds, Akechi looked at Dr. Takemi in shock. It seemed he hadn't expected such a response. Then, his expression contorted to indignation and dissatisfaction, before he turned on his heel and started toward the door. "Well, I suppose I should inform the higher-ups at Velvet about this and see what input they have," he muttered to himself on his way out of the room.

A heavy silence lingered after the door slid closed, and Kurusu's voice was the first thing to break it. "Thanks, Doc."

"Don't mention it," Dr. Takemi replied with a smirk, before turning back to her computer.

Okumura sat in the chair next to Yusuke's bed and smiled gently at him. "Please, pay him no mind. He's unpleasant, but he has no say about anything on the ship," she explained.

While Yusuke's brain was still catching up, Kurusu moved over to the same side of the bed as Okumura, and quickly deactivated the particle handcuffs. With a gentle smile, he spoke up again. "It really is up to you, though. Before you decide, I should let you know: we're privateers. In a technical sense, we're outlaws, but we have an agreement with the Velvet Corps. We help them with criminals they can't get to, and we get to keep what we find at those bases, and don't go to jail."

Yusuke considered what Kurusu was saying quietly, watching the dark-haired man with tear-blurred eyes. Kurusu's group were outlaws? Yusuke supposed, technically, he was an outlaw as well. A murderer and a mercenary, no matter how unwilling, probably should have been in jail. He probably should have been dead. Even among pirates, Yusuke still didn't truly belong. Kurusu's offer, not to mention the kindness he'd shown in sparing Yusuke's life, were both undeserved. Even so, a part of Yusuke felt that perhaps he owed Kurusu now, for not simply killing him. Could he truly set aside his guilt and doubts and allow himself to be free with these pirates just to repay that debt, though?

Okumura continued in a gentle tone, temporarily silencing his thoughts. "Whatever you do decide, I want to assure you that we will find whoever did this to you and get revenge in your honor," she told him.

Revenge. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind until Okumura spoke those words, but now that she had, it was swirling around in his brain. His tears suddenly stopped, and in their place sparked a soft ember of anger. For ten years, Yusuke had been forced into the corner of his own mind, forced to watch himself do terrible things with no way to stop himself. He'd been forced to serve, to kill, to live a half-life, indentured to a man who used him as more of a tool than a person. Now, these people were planning on fighting that man?

The thought of Madarame, of everything Madarame had done to Yusuke and people like him, spurred Yusuke into action more than anything else. If this crew was going to take Madarame down, then Yusuke would be right there with them. They had a much better chance of catching Madarame with Yusuke's assistance, anyway.

"Very well," Yusuke agreed in a still-shaky voice. "I accept your offer."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, unlike with Inertia, I'm gonna be posting chapter by chapter this time around! I hope you guys like where I'm going with this! ♥
> 
> As always, thanks to [Nada](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NadaCreations/pseuds/NadaCreations) for helping keep me on track and making sure the whole thing makes sense!


	2. Chapter 2

With Dr. Takemi's advanced medical techniques, Yusuke was up on his feet within two days. Even so, the doctor still recommended him to take at least three days to relax. According to Kurusu, it would take a few days to get back to the Bastion at their current pace, and they had at least one night to rest there, so they were at least a week out from any possible combat. As much as Yusuke wanted to get his revenge on Madarame sooner, he was grateful for the chance to collect his thoughts and, as strange as it seemed, get used to not having the high pitched frequency playing in his mind anymore.

It felt strange to be walking on his own. It wasn't painful, nor did it take any getting used to, really. It wasn't as though he'd forgotten how to breathe, or talk, or move his limbs. Madarame hadn't given him any abilities like enhanced speed or agility. All it had truly done was to make his particle abilities unstable, so it wasn't as though his body had lost anything with the removal of his implant. In fact, Yusuke would argue that he had gained more than he could have possibly lost. It was just... strange. Being able to move his own body, and turn his head when something caught his attention was a far greater relief than he could adequately express.

Kurusu had made a passing comment, comparing it to riding a bicycle. "You never really forgot, I don't think. You just... couldn't," he'd said, which was as good an explanation as any.

The patience Kurusu exhibited toward Yusuke was unexpected and worth notice. Whenever Yusuke spotted something on the ship that interested him, Kurusu would stop and listen to any questions he might have had. He was kind, and always spoke to Yusuke with a warm and gentle smile. While Yusuke still wasn't sure he deserved the kindness, he was grateful for it. It seemed like the tumultuous way they'd met—and the fighting Yusuke had caused when he woke up—were the farthest things from Kurusu's mind.

The Leblanc was a truly beautiful ship. It was composed of metal and particle energy, much like most other ships Yusuke had seen, but there was something remarkably warm and comforting about the Leblanc. Yusuke couldn't quite pinpoint what it was, but as he walked around with Kurusu, he couldn't help but feel safe. Kurusu had explained that their status as both allies of the Velvet Corps and outlaws allowed them access to even the rarest of materials to make the ship stronger. In the back of Yusuke's mind, he wondered if it was the ship's strength making him feel so safe.

Most of the day, Yusuke had followed Kurusu around the ship, meeting different members of the crew who worked both on and off the ship. So far, he'd met Ryuji Sakamoto, Makoto Niijima, and Ann Takamaki, as well as the ship's cook and Kurusu's father figure, Sojiro Sakura. Ryuji had, in a very colorful way, condemned Madarame for what he had done and welcomed Yusuke to the team. Makoto was calm but friendly, and reassured Yusuke that Akechi was the only one who was resistant to having him on the team. Ann was as warm and friendly as Akira, and readily offered Yusuke her friendship. Sojiro had teased Akira in good nature about his kindness, but then told Yusuke how welcome he was, and asked which foods he preferred.

Strangely enough, each of them had completely discarded pleasantries and insisted Yusuke call them by their given names. It wasn't what he expected at all, but given how kind Kurusu was, perhaps it should have been. It was interesting, however: none of the people he'd met so far seemed to fit the image Yusuke had in his mind when he thought of pirates. He could ask, couldn't he? Kurusu wasn't like Madarame, where any questions he asked would be dismissed or disciplined.

Yusuke lifted his eyes to meet with the captain's. "Kurusu?"

"Yusuke, you can call me Akira," Akira replied with a gentle grin.

Everyone else had insisted the same thing, however, Yusuke couldn't help but think it a little taboo to call his _captain_ by his given name. Madarame had always insisted on being called Lord Madarame, so much so that when he allowed his thralls to speak and one of them accidentally missed the honorific, the consequences were dire. Yusuke shook the memory off, and looked at Kurusu in appraisal. He was the polar opposite of Madarame in so many ways. The kindness he'd displayed so far allowed Yusuke to take his word for what it was.

"Very well... Akira," Yusuke answered, despite how strange it felt. "May I ask you a question, please?"

Kurusu—no, _Akira_ —nodded. "You don't have to ask my permission, though. If you have a question, you can ask it," he insisted.

Red rushed to Yusuke's cheeks and he cleared his throat. "I... I see. I will endeavor to keep that in mind," he murmured. "I was merely curious. Your organization is called the Phantom Pirates, is it not?"

Akira laughed, then rubbed his face from the top to the bottom. "Oh, yeah," he mused. "That was Ryuji's brainchild. Back when we started, he was the only one of us who could think of a name. Oh, by the way? It's not really _my_ organization. It's everyone's. Yours too."

"No, I—"

Akira stopped Yusuke's denial with a shake of his head. "We're all equals here. Everyone has an equal claim on the loot we get, and everyone is as much a part of the team as the person next to them. It's your organization, too, Yusuke," he insisted.

It was kind of Akira to say, but Yusuke couldn't help but feel like an interloper. Being told that he belonged on the ship, that he was equal to all of the others—some of whom had been on the crew for almost a decade—felt wrong. A voice in the back of Yusuke's mind insisted he was encroaching on territory he shouldn't have been in... territory he _wouldn't_ have been in, if not for Akira's seemingly unyielding kindness. It was no wonder everyone on the crew trusted his word without question. Well, perhaps not everyone. Yusuke remembered Akechi's reaction, and wondered why none of the people he'd met so far shared it.

Before Yusuke could spiral too much further into that self-deprecating thought process, Akira spoke again. "You said you had a question," he asked gently.

"Ah. Yes," Yusuke muttered. "I was curious. Your friends, your crew, and you in particular... none of you seem particularly representative of the mythos I've always seen attached to piracy."

Akira quirked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

How could he explain without possibly offending Akira? Yusuke hummed thoughtfully, then continued. "Simply that… piracy has something of a stigma attached to it," he finally explained. "Dirty. Unkind to their enemies. It's very clean here and most everyone is being so kind to me—"

"That's because you're not our enemy," Akira answered plainly.

With a frown, Yusuke glanced down at the floor. "I..."

Akira stopped in the middle of a hallway, and placed a hand on Yusuke's shoulder. The contact took Yusuke by surprise and immediately drew his attention. Before his time in the Leblanc's infirmary, he truly couldn't remember the last time he'd been touched. It was embarrassing to think of, but Akira didn't seem to notice Yusuke's surprise. Once Akira dropped his hand, he met Yusuke's eyes with that same warm smile. For some inexplicable reason, Yusuke felt like his stomach was trying to flip from inside his body, but he brushed it off quickly.

"You're not our enemy, Yusuke, okay?" Akira told him gently. "I know it might take some time for you to believe it, but you're not."

A voice in the back of Yusuke's mind, the same one which had been telling him how little he belonged here, was telling him that Akira was only reassuring him to be kind. It couldn't be that simple. However, Yusuke shook the thought away and turned his gaze away from Akira's face. "Yes. I... I suppose it will take time," he stammered.

"As for the rest?" Akira continued. "We're not dirty or disorganized because we're not _technically_ pirates. We're privateers."

Yusuke hummed thoughtfully. "Ah yes, I remember you mentioning that you had a contract with the Velvet Corps."

Akira nodded. "That's kind of an oversimplification, though," he explained. "It isn't really... a contract, it's more of an unwritten agreement. Back in the day, we were pirates. When we first started, it was only me, Ryuji, Ann, and Futaba, and we had this little rundown ship that probably couldn't even make it from Earth to the Bastion and barely had enough room to fit all of us comfortably."

It was very difficult for Yusuke to imagine Akira manning such a small crew on such a small and ramshackle ship, given the state of the Leblanc and how large its crew was. "How did you go from a situation like that to... this?" he asked.

With a fond laugh, Akira continued. "Sojiro was a former Velvet officer. He caught us at one point, put us in touch with Velvet, and said he had a ship for us if we accepted the offer Sae gave us. We weren't really attached to being _pirates_. All we wanted was to go after the people who deserved it. The four of us decided that we'd probably be able to do it in an even bigger capacity if we cooperated with Velvet. Plus, it was better than being thrown in jail for piracy," he mused with a shrug, brushing his hair from his face.

"I can see how you would prefer a lifestyle change to prison, yes," Yusuke agreed with a chuckle.

Akira smirked. "Yeah. We had to take on a Velvet escort, too, to make sure we stayed on the up and up. Some of the people at Velvet are still waiting for us to swap sides, I'm pretty sure. At the time, it didn't seem like such a big deal." The smirk faded from Akira's face, and he shrugged again. "It really _isn't_ a big deal, and Akechi does help in some ways. It just wasn't what we expected."

The thought of Akechi made Yusuke's smile wilt as well. As uncomfortable as the man made him, as _strangely_ familiar as he was, Yusuke didn't feel like it was his place to comment on the man's presence. "And that's how you got the Leblanc?" he asked.

"Yeah," Akira said. "Sojiro gave us the Leblanc, and he also decided to work with us, because he wasn't ready to retire yet. I'm pretty sure it's so he can look after Futaba, though. So, here we are, going from these small-time pirates with nothing to our name but the things we loot, to these well-known privateers with a contract any other space pirates would probably kill for," he explained, huffing in amusement. "And suddenly, we have access to all this tech that can take our already-great ship and make it even better. So now, Velvet relies on us even more, especially when it comes to getting into the places in the galaxy where they can't go."

Yusuke perked. "Oh! That explains a lot! Lord—I... I mean..." he stopped abruptly, then flinched, shook his head, and frowned. Madarame wasn't his Lord. Madarame wasn't even _a_ Lord. He didn't deserve that level of respect. Old habits, however, were hard to break. "M-Madarame—was wondering how you got through the jammer. I assume…"

A sympathetic smile crossed Akira's face, but he nodded all the same. "Yeah. We're actually on our way to meet up with the people responsible for making our ship as advanced as it is now. They're the ones who are fixing your implant," he told Yusuke.

Against his volition, Yusuke raised his hand to touch the bandage on his temple. Akira didn't appear to have a scar on his head, but his unruly hair would hide anything from immediate view. The other particle users on the team, Haru, Ann, and Makoto, didn't have scars either, though. It led Yusuke to believe that his implant was larger, or perhaps attached much more carelessly. All Yusuke had ever seen was the wire connecting the implant to his ear. The thought caused him to slide his hand along his head to his ear, just to make sure the wire was really gone. Tears almost sprang to his eyes again when he realized the wire was gone; that this was really happening.

Just as he was about to turn to Akira and thank him again—if not for saving Yusuke's life, then at least for freeing him of the faulty implant—a nearby door opened and a small, red-haired girl with glasses bounded out. She rushed down the hall, not paying attention to where she was going, and crashed directly into Akira. Unfazed, she brushed herself off and looked up at Akira.

"Kiki! I was on my way to find you!" she announced from the ground, lifting her hand and wiggling her fingers at Akira.

Akira made a sound _resembling_ a laugh, then reached his hand down to pull her back to her feet. "You guys fix the implant?" he asked.

Even when she got back to her feet, the girl didn't answer Akira's question. Instead, she looked up at Yusuke with curious eyes. Realization dawned on her, and she pulled in a sharp gasp. "Oh. Is this him, is this him? Good, he didn't go all baby mode and lose his ability to walk and stuff. I was worried, and now Nishi owes me 5,000 yen!" She spoke so quickly that Yusuke was pretty sure she didn't breathe between her words, but she didn't seem fazed. In fact, when she finished, she simply looked at Akira expectantly.

Sighing in exasperation, Akira nodded. "Yeah. Futaba, this is Yusuke Kitagawa, the newest member of our crew. Yusuke, this is Futaba Sakura, half of our tech geek squad and our co-pilot."

Yusuke bowed his head calmly and tried to greet Futaba politely. "Pleased to meet you, Sakura-san," he said. However, when he lifted his head and saw the look on her face, a wash of embarrassment flooded his cheeks.

In stark contrast to what Yusuke expected from a polite display, Futaba looked like she was barely holding back uncontrollable laughter. She glanced at Akira with her eyebrows quirked, then jerked her head in Yusuke's direction. "This guy for real?" she asked, and without waiting for an answer, she turned back to look at Yusuke. "Seriously? Sakura-san? Who am I, my dad? God, what a weirdo! Futaba. Call me Sakura-san again and I'll make sure your implant zaps you every time you're about to fall asleep!"

"Futaba... maybe don't make implant jokes?" Akira groaned.

As though the realization just dawned on her, Futaba blinked and bit her lip. "Oh, right..." she mumbled, before turning to look at Yusuke. "Sorry."

Yusuke was more surprised by the general teasing and her reaction to his polite greeting, rather than the comment about his implant. "It's... it's quite alright," he murmured.

Futaba shook the awkwardness off like it had never happened. "Anyway, back to that greeting!" she declared. With the teasing smile back on her face, she bowed in exactly the same way Yusuke had bowed to her seconds ago. "Greetings, Kitagawa-san... nope. Nope, doesn't do it for me. You're so prim and proper… I'm gonna call you Inari. Pleased to meet you, Inari!"

As Futaba extended her hand to shake Yusuke's, Yusuke simply blinked in surprise at the display. "Inari?" he asked.

Akira breathed a heavy sigh. "Yeah. You... you just learn to tune it out after a while," he reassured Yusuke, then turned his attention to Futaba. "So... you said you were coming to find me?"

"Oh right!" Futaba shouted. "Yeah. Nishi and me have been working on Inari's implant since you brought it to us, but last night we realized that the easiest way to make this work is just to rebuild it from the ground up."

Yusuke was suddenly all the more interested in the conversation, and he tilted his head inquisitively. "My implant?"

"Yeah. Mishima and Futaba are pretty much wizards. They can make amazing implant upgrades and ship upgrades from pretty much nothing. They're the reason the ship's in such good shape," Akira explained.

With an eager smile on her face, Futaba nodded. "This is, like... a top of the line implant, Inari. Nishi and me were looking at your old one and we were like... 'what the heck is wrong with it,' you know? It must've been pretty faulty. You probably got zapped a lot when you used your particle stuff, but not with this one! You'll be even stronger than you were before," she decreed, not a sliver of doubt on her face.

It seemed as though Akira shared her certainty. "Wow, really? He was pretty strong before, too. I had a hard time holding my own," he mused.

Futaba smirked. "Yeah. Nishi set it for the same powers, the same everything, just without the frequency and the crappy outdated faulty wiring," she explained. "He can explain it way better than me."

Seeming satisfied with her explanation, Akira turned to Yusuke with a hopeful expression on his face. "So, the method Dr. Takemi uses to install particle implants is painless. She's the best in the business. I know you have no reason to trust us, really, but... I promise we won't hurt you," he vowed.

"Quite the contrary, actually," Yusuke disagreed, returning Akira's smile. "You've given me nothing but reasons to trust you. Without you, I wouldn't have my freedom. I owe you my life. Dr. Takemi, as well."

For the briefest moment, there was a flash of surprise on Akira's face, and it took Yusuke off guard. Though Akira turned his head, Yusuke could barely see the hint of a flush on his cheeks. "Oh. Okay, that's... that's good," he finally answered.

In the silence that followed, Futaba cleared her throat and called both Akira and Yusuke's attention. "Very sweet and everything, but can you save the mushy stuff for when Nishi and me _don't_ have super amazing and mind-blowing stuff to show you?" she asked, huffing in annoyance. "C'mon, c'mon. Move it!"

Yusuke was surprised when Futaba grabbed not only Akira's wrist, but Yusuke's as well. Despite his surprise at having his wrist grabbed by a relative stranger, Yusuke followed Futaba's lead. He and Akira exchanged glances, during which Akira smiled gently and shrugged a shoulder.

Futaba led them into a small cubby in the engine room. The cubby was filled with wires and electronic bits, as well as many other mysterious technological bits... the likes of which Yusuke had never seen before. It was brightly lit, shrouded with both overhead lights and a bright desk lamp. Yusuke noticed a man about their age with dark blue hair, leaning over a microscope with some kind of tool in his hands. Before Yusuke could even consider trying to figure out who he was, Futaba spoke up again.

"Nishi! I'm back, and I brought a Kiki and an Inari with me!" Futaba declared.

The man didn't even look up from his table. "What's an Inari?" he asked.

Akira sighed again, stretching his shoulder after being tugged by Futaba. "Mishima. This is Yusuke," he announced.

When Akira spoke up, Mishima turned around sharply, then blinked and looked up at Yusuke in surprise. This 'Mishima' was almost as short as Futaba, but slightly thinner than Yusuke. He looked at Yusuke with inquisitive eyes. After a too-long, nerve-wracking silence while he appraised Yusuke—more specifically the bandage on Yusuke's head—Mishima finally spoke up.

"Oh! You're him! You're the guy, right? With the… this?" Mishima declared excitedly, gesturing toward the wires and metal on the table.

Akira pushed his glasses up and massaged the bridge of his nose. "Mishima..." he huffed.

Mishima blinked. "Right. Right, sorry! I wasn't trying to... you know? Anything like that! I was just curious!"

"Mishima, this is Yusuke Kitagawa. Yusuke, this is our pilot and resident implant genius, Yuuki Mishima. We usually just call him Mishima, though," Akira shrugged.

As soon as Akira finished speaking, Futaba chimed in, "Or Nishi, but only I get to call him that."

Grinning wryly, Mishima nodded. "It's true. Ryuji tried once and she hit him pretty hard for it," he added with a laugh.

"C'mon, guys. Don't overwhelm him," Akira commanded gently.

In spite of everything, Yusuke found that he couldn't help but smile. His smile had a slight bittersweet tinge to it. All of these people all seemed so kind and Yusuke realized how foreign such kindness was to him, but perhaps the debt he owed Akira now was a chance to start anew. No matter how friendly they were with him, he was sure he would never _truly_ fit in with the group. He knew he would never be as close with them as they were to each other, but even so, he was truly glad to have been saved by such accepting and wonderful people. With that in mind, his smile became a little more genuine and he even managed a laugh at Mishima and Futaba's playful banter.

Akira looked at him, then let out a soft chuckle of his own. "Or... you know, he can prove me completely and totally wrong by smiling. Forget I said anything."

Yusuke turned his smile on Akira. "You have quite a colorful crew, Akira," he mused.

"Yeah, you could say that," Akira teased fondly, before turning to glance at Futaba and Mishima. "Anyway. Mishima, Futaba said you had a breakthrough with Yusuke's implant?"

Mishima lifted his hand and wiggled it back and forth. "Sorta," he answered. "My breakthrough was mostly the realization that as long as I was working with the cobalt chips in his original implant, I wouldn't be able to calibrate the duralumin wires enough to get rid of the frequency that was twisting his brainwaves."

Discussion of the inner-workings of particle implants was so far outside of Yusuke's expertise, that Mishima may as well have been speaking a foreign language. He might have felt embarrassed by that, if Akira didn't seem just as perplexed as he was. The captain shrugged and, in a slightly amused voice, he commented, "Not sure what a cobalt wire or duralumin chip is, but… go on."

"No. It's... you got that backward and..." Mishima trailed off, then shook his head and chuckled. "Never mind. Anyway. While I was rooting around in the old wiring, I found this amplifier thing that sort of… overheated, and I realized that his particle abilities probably must have backfired a lot," he explained, before turning to look at Yusuke for confirmation.

Yusuke nodded. "They did," he answered. "I have a skill which is supposed to damage a foe and use that same particle energy to heal me, but a generous portion of the time, it did the opposite. It sapped my energy and healed my foes."

With a frown, Mishima glanced back down at the microscope he was using to rebuild Yusuke's implant. "Right. So, I had top tier cobalt chips and untampered duralumin wires here. I figured I could build an implant with the same abilities and elemental enhancements you had before," he told Yusuke with a shrug.

"Just, you know, minus the whole backfiring thing," Futaba interjected. "Nishi tightened all the loose bolts and I made your weapon gauntlet respond better so your katana should be able to hold up against enemy strikes better, and won't disappear if someone tries to pull it away from you like Ann did."

Akira's smile was radiant, brightening his whole face with a dazzling light. For a moment, Yusuke was taken completely off guard, and his stomach twisted in the same way it had a few moments earlier when Akira touched his shoulder. Fortunately, Akira's voice snapped him out of his stupor. "Nice," he told his friends. "Awesome job, you two."

Shaking off the last of his stupid trance, Yusuke turned to look at the others. "Yes," he agreed. "Thank you. I don't know if I'll ever be able to appropriately repay you, but—"

"Psh. Repay," Futaba snorted. "You _obviously_ haven't been a member of the crew for long."

Akira visibly slumped, but Yusuke could see the ghost of a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth when he spoke again. "Futaba... he _hasn't_ ," he reminded her.

Mishima stood from his chair, looked up at Yusuke, and smiled. "Y'know, I was pretty weirded out by how nice everyone here is at first too, Yusuke. I came from a pretty bad place, too, so I really didn't expect it. I was always afraid someone would come and take it away as soon as I got comfortable. I've been here for about five years now, and sometimes I still expect to go back to… where I was. But I haven't had to, because everyone here is a family," he explained.

"And you're a member of it now," Futaba chimed in. "Get used to it, Inari!"

With a fond laugh, Akira nodded and placed his hand on Yusuke's shoulder again. "Just, y'know, take all the time you need, okay? There's no rush."

Too stunned to speak at first, Yusuke glanced from Futaba and Mishima, and then to Akira. Akira was smiling at him, and he couldn't help but smile in return. While he still didn't feel like he belonged on the crew—while he still didn't feel like he deserved Akira's kindness—for the first time since awakening in the med bay, Yusuke felt like maybe, with time, he could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had so much fun writing Mishima and Futaba in this one. XD Also... are those the hints of a crush I see???? *squints*
> 
> Thanks to my wonderful friend [Nada](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NadaCreations/pseuds/NadaCreations) for reading beforehand and making sure I didn't screw up too much! You're the best, lady. You guys should go read her Shukita fics! They're great!


	3. Chapter 3

_In the midst of a grand, open area stood a labyrinthine maze composed of mirrors and iron bars. It would have looked like a row of prison cells in a funhouse, if not for the occasional openings leading to different rows of the maze. The room was cold, and every now and then, an even colder wind would rip through the area, strong enough for the iron bars not to slow it at all. Yusuke was pushed around like a rag doll each time, knocked into the bars or down to the floor. Some of the bars in the distance strained, and Yusuke could hear the sound clearly in the quiet labyrinth, each squeak or loud rattle echoing into the labyrinth._

_Yusuke's body was made of smooth porcelain, and he watched in a nearby mirror as he moved in sharp-but-stuttered steps through the maze. He didn't know where he was going, but he _did_ know that if he didn't go, the angry voice bellowing over the wind would be furious with him. As afraid as he was of the angry voice, a second voice called from somewhere nearby and pleaded with him to stop._

_"You don't need to do this," the voice pleaded. There was something familiar about it, but the porcelain version of Yusuke couldn't place it. "There's a better way."_

_Right when the soft voice stopped pleading, the loud one echoed out again, the volume shaking the bars and shattering a distant mirror as he bellowed. "Why haven't you_ found _him yet, Yusuke? Of all my guards, I would have thought_ you _strong enough to find a single intruder! Or are you a failure, too?"_

_This voice was familiar as well, and it made the porcelain version of Yusuke freeze in place. He tried to speak, but no words came._

_"Don't listen to him, please!" the first voice called. "Just come with me. I'll keep you safe!"_

_Again, the first voice had just barely finished speaking when the second rang out again. "SILENCE. I WILL NOT HAVE YOU PUTTING IDEAS IN HIS HEAD." It was so loud it made the room rumble, and a few feet in front of Yusuke, a mirror tipped over and shattered on the ground._

_The second voice, gentle though it was, retorted, "He's not just a puppet! You can't just use him!"_

_Yusuke took another step forward, unsure of which voice he was following, and the porcelain around his knee started to crack. He watched a black line appear in the corner of the joint, and tried to stop moving forward, but a force outside his body kept him from obeying. His other leg moved, a crack started from his ankle and quickly spidered up his calf. The pain was surprising. It felt like something was trying to tear out from the inside of his body and he wanted to scream. He wanted to let his voice tear out from his throat and plead whatever was cracking him to stop. Nothing came out, though. His voice was trapped in the recesses of his throat, and his porcelain lips wouldn't even move to form the words._

_"I will_ not _have you ruining everything I've worked for."_

_Despite the loud voice's boom, and the invisible force twisting him to its will, Yusuke didn't want to fight. Whoever the soft voice was, they sounded kind. It felt like they were trying to grip him tight and raise him from the force trying to bend him._

_The loud voice thundered again. "I found him. He is in the next row, to the far left. KILL HIM."_

_At the end of the loud voice's declaration, the maze shook again. Several yards away, a mirror broke and the soft voice let out a sharp, agonized cry as the glass impacted with the floor. In spite of himself, Yusuke felt panic rising in his porcelain chest. He tried to move faster—whether it was to help or to harm the soft voice, he wasn't sure—but the cracks in his legs grew ever longer and all the more painful._

_"H-help," the soft voice pleaded. "Please…"_

_Slowly, cracks started to form on Yusuke's arms. His body was breaking, but the force pushed him along, making him move faster toward the soft voice. When Yusuke got there, and saw the voice's carrier, an ache formed in his chest. The dark, unruly hair, the dark-rimmed glasses, the soft gray-blue eyes… there was something familiar about him, but this porcelain version of Yusuke couldn't place it._

_"Kill him. Kill him! KILL HIM! **KILL HIM!** " the loud voice commanded._

_The more Yusuke fought, the more his left arm began to shatter, but his right one summoned his particle katana. Desperately, Yusuke tried to fight back. He didn't want to kill the soft voice. They were so kind. They were trying to save him. The cracks in his right arm grew, and he tried with all his might to stop himself, but it ended up being fruitless. With his eyes locked to the familiar man's, he raised his katana high above his head and plunged it down into the man's throat—_

"No!"

Yusuke's eyes shot open, and he gripped at the soft fleece blanket draped over his body as he shot into a seated position and looked around. He recognized his surroundings immediately, and the events of the past few days came back to him all at once. The wave of relief flooding him right then was almost enough to knock him over. He still clutched the blanket—it smelled like coffee and warm vanilla—and glanced across the room to Akira's bed.

As soon as Akira came into focus, Yusuke's heart sank. Not only was Akira already awake, but he was looking at Yusuke with concern lining his eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked gently, his voice exactly the same as the one in Yusuke's dream.

"Did… did I wake you?" Yusuke stammered, still trying to calm his hammering heart.

Akira shrugged as he clicked the bedside light on. "It's okay. Don't sweat it, alright? Are you okay?" he repeated gently.

Yusuke frowned. Was he okay? Now he was, sure. In his dream, though… "Y-yes. I'm fine," he murmured softly.

For a few seconds, Akira was quiet. Yusuke watched him as he felt along his bedside table for his glasses and slid them onto his face. For a moment, Yusuke found himself wondering why Akira wore glasses, when there were surgeries out there which could instantly repair anything wrong with his eyes, but at the same time, he didn't mind. The glasses framed Akira's face well, and they added a layer of mystery, especially when coupled with the way Akira's hair fell down in front of the frames.

"That doesn't sound like 'fine' to me," Akira retorted, his tone gentle as he leaned back against the headboard.

Yusuke frowned and puffed a breath out. Perhaps it should have been a safe assumption, with Akira's kindness, that he would be incapable of letting such things rest. "I'm… I had a bit of a nightmare," he explained simply. "It's nothing to worry yourself over."

To Yusuke's surprise, Akira swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. "Sounds like something I should absolutely worry myself over," he answered.

"I won't let it interfere with my duties, Akira. I promise," Yusuke insisted.

Akira shook his head. "That isn't what I meant," he explained, gathering two glasses and filling each one with water from his small bathroom. "I meant… I'm worried about it because it obviously affected you. It woke you up in the middle of the night, right?"

With a frown, Yusuke nodded. "Yes. It was… unpleasant," he answered dismally. He thought back to his dream, to Akira's desire to save him and to his betrayal, and he frowned.

"What happened?" Akira asked as he crossed the room and stopped in front of Yusuke. "I'm not a dream analyst, but it might be easier if you told someone about it. Right?" He sat at the foot of his bed, which was right across from the couch where Yusuke slept.

Yusuke glanced up, surprised to see Akira extending one of the glasses of water to him. He accepted it and swallowed nervously. "Thank you," he said, before taking a sip of water to buy himself some time to compose his thoughts. How could he tell Akira, the kind and wonderful man who had saved him, that he'd had a nightmare where a porcelain version of himself had plunged a katana right into Akira's throat?

"It was… a nightmare," Yusuke started lamely. "It was just like what reality used to be. I dreamed that I could see through my eyes, but control of my body belonged to… to Madarame." Now that he was awake, there was absolutely no question as to the fact that the loud-voiced man in his dream was Madarame.

Akira frowned. "It makes sense," he mused sadly, taking a small sip of his water.

Nodding, Yusuke smoothed a hand through his hair. "Yes. My body was made of frail porcelain. It was almost like I was some kind of animatronic. Forced to carry out someone else's actions, but with a mind of my own. I was in a labyrinth made of mirrors and iron bars, and there were two voices calling me. One of them was loud and thunderous. Each time it spoke, it shook the very foundation of the labyrinth and broke a mirror into shards. The second voice, however, was soft. It was kind and gentle, pleading with me to listen to it and telling me that I wasn't a slave, that I didn't have to live by someone else's whims. The first voice was only telling me to kill the carrier of the second voice," he explained, silencing himself with a second slow pull from his water.

"Sounds pretty familiar," Akira muttered.

Yusuke nodded. "Yes," he murmured, shifting his gaze away from Akira and glancing down at the floor. "I tried to fight, it. I tried not to do what the loud voice was telling me to, but I was made of porcelain and every time I fought back I cracked more and more."

Humming softly, Akira nodded. "Like you did on Susano-o," he commented.

It hadn't occurred to Yusuke, but Akira was right. "I suppose that's accurate, yes," he laughed halfheartedly. "By the time I got to you, my left arm was completely shattered, but I was still forced… I still had to…"

"Oh…" Akira muttered.

Yusuke simply nodded, his hand gripping the water glass a little tighter. He stared inside, catching his reflection in the liquid and immediately turning away. The sight of his own face brought him back to the way the porcelain version of him had looked in the dream. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't want to. I… I understand if this damages your willingness to trust me. I—"

A soft shuffle of movement caught Yusuke's ear and he glanced up to see Akira standing. Akira set his glass of water on the end table beside his bed, then moved toward the couch. "Can I sit?" he asked, gesturing to the empty space next to Yusuke.

"Y-yes. Of course," Yusuke answered, moving to stand up.

Akira shook his head. "No, you can stay, too," he insisted. "Just slide down."

Though he was still surprised, Yusuke did as he was told, sliding down to the edge of the large couch which lay beneath the small window in Akira's room. He watched as Akira sat down, and pulled his legs up to sit butterflied, then leaned his back against the cushion and his head against the wall. Akira was so relaxed, so calm, even after Yusuke explained his nightmare. How was it possible for Akira to be so at ease around someone like him?

"It doesn't damage my trust in you, Yusuke," Akira explained.

Yusuke still stared at him, eyes wide with shock. "How?" he asked quietly.

Akira shrugged and tilted his head to the side to regard Yusuke with a lazy smile. "Dreams are just dreams. I've had some pretty messed up ones before, where I've done some pretty bad things, but that doesn't mean that I'd ever do those things in reality," he explained. "Besides, you're free of Madarame's voice now. You're free of his control. You're your own man, Yusuke."

"I suppose I am," Yusuke answered under his breath.

Even as Akira turned his head back to look at the ceiling, Yusuke still stared at him for a long moment. It seemed impossible for someone to be so kind, and so forgiving. Upon hearing of Yusuke's nightmares, Yusuke expected reprimand, he expected Akira to suddenly agree with Akechi's plan to leave Yusuke on the Bastion and have the Velvet Corps put him in prison. Regardless of what Akira said, in the darkest reaches of Yusuke's mind, he still felt as though it was what he deserved.

Yet, Akira somehow saw fit to save him, and see the good in him. Yusuke was vaguely aware that he was still staring, and had been for an uncomfortably long time. Regardless, he couldn't take his eyes away. Akira was a beautiful man. The mop of dark hair on his head was shaggy and unruly, peeking over the frames of his glasses to hang down into his eyes. Yusuke examined his face; pale skin, spotted with a light dusting of freckles. Carefully, Yusuke's eyes traced the angle of Akira's jaw and the slope of his nose, memorizing the details. The smooth skin of his shoulders was spotted with a few freckles as well. Akira's body was lean, slender but muscular, and it was quite a lovely sight to see his chest rise and fell with his calm breathing.

It had been a long time since Yusuke had drawn anything. When he'd been trapped inside his mind, without control of his body, he hadn't been able to. Still, as his eyes traced Akira's frame, Yusuke found himself inspired.

"Can I ask you something?" Akira asked, snapping Yusuke from his thoughts.

Yusuke nodded. "Anything," he answered.

A flash of concern crossed Akira's face as he turned to glance at Yusuke sidelong again. "You mentioned before that you didn't have control of your body, that you were pretty much a prisoner in your own mind, right?"

With a dismal nod, Yusuke tore his eyes away again, glancing at the red fleece blanket draped over his legs. "Yes."

"So, you saw everything he made you do?" Akira asked, his tone sad.

Yusuke hummed and nodded. "Everything," he admitted, setting his glass on the nearby end table.

Akira blew a puff of breath out, and Yusuke could tell by the direction of his voice that Akira's eyes were still on him. "That had to have been… I can't even imagine how that must have felt," he murmured.

"I'm glad you can't imagine it, Akira. I wouldn't wish it on anyone," Yusuke answered. "It was almost as though I was pushed to the far corner of my own mind, forced to watch my life like a movie, living like a passenger in my own skin. I wasn't able to speak unless Madarame specifically commanded it. The only autonomy I had at all was the ability to use the restroom and eat when I needed to. My life truly has not been my own since I was fifteen years of age, but that doesn't mean I don't remember what I've done."

"Each time we invaded someone else's space to steal from them—their art and other things Madarame claimed we needed to improve our base—I was forced to kill innocents. When people attacked the base trying to take back what we stole, I was forced to kill again," Yusuke continued, his voice shaking a little bit as he sat back down on the couch. "And when… when one of my compatriots outlived their usefulness to Madarame, I was forced to…"

Yusuke choked on his next words, blinking back emotion. "I have done terrible things, Akira," he said instead.

The silence was almost suffocating. Yusuke could feel Akira's eyes on him, and he was suddenly tempted to shrink in on himself. Until now, Akira had been so kind, so accepting. Hearing the true extent of the terrible things Yusuke had done had to be the limit. There was no way Akira would still look at him with that kindness and warmth in his eyes, after hearing exactly what Yusuke had done. He swallowed thickly, then shook his head hard, forcing himself to turn and look at Akira. He had to face the reality of the situation. If that reality put him on Akira's bad side now, it was time to get what he deserved.

Breathing out slowly and trying to feign confidence, Yusuke said, "I'm truly sorry for hurting you, and for everything else I've done. I understand if, now that you know, you—"

Akira cut Yusuke's apology off with a gentle hand to his forearm. Akira's skin was warm, and the softness of the touch managed to catch Yusuke off guard. The look in Akira's eyes was even gentler. It was kind and understanding, but it wasn't pitying. The distinction was difficult to make, but somehow, Yusuke didn't think Akira looked upon him as a pathetic creature. How was it possible, Yusuke wondered, for a human being to be quite so kind? Much about Akira Kurusu seemed unreal, like he was too good to be true.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, okay?" Akira reassured him, his lips curling upward into a small smile. "You told me yourself. Nothing you did was in your control. You didn't want to do any of it. I don't expect you to believe me right away, but the next time you start to doubt it, you can talk to me and I'll remind you, okay? I'm here for you, no matter when."

In spite of Yusuke's doubts, a smile curled his lips upward. "Thank you, Akira. You're a very good captain."

With a warm chuckle, Akira shook his head and pulled his hand back to his side. "I don't mean it as a captain, Yusuke. Yeah, I'm the captain, which is fine, and I'm definitely here for you in that way, too. This time, though, I mean it as a friend."

A friend? Yusuke wasn't sure he'd ever actually had a friend before. Most of the people who worked with Madarame were in a similar situation to Yusuke. Kidnapped from the streets, where no one even knew they were gone. After that, they were all immediately turned into unwilling thralls to the very man who captured them. As it stood, Yusuke barely remembered a time before he served Madarame. The only people he knew were Madarame and his other slaves. Yusuke had spent ten years around them, but none of them were ever allowed the closeness to be considered friends.

Perhaps it was shameful, but over the past ten years, Yusuke had forgotten what it felt like to _have_ a friend. "A friend…" he murmured, his smile growing wider. "I am beginning to see that your kindness truly knows no bounds."

"Or maybe I just want to be your friend," Akira retorted with a little grin.

Yusuke chuckled softly. "Well, who am I to turn you down, then?" he asked, a flood of red rushing to his cheeks.

Akira stood again, gathering both glasses and bringing them into the sink. "I mean, we were already friends, but now it's all official," he mused with a little grin. After washing the glasses quickly and stacking them beside the sink, he came back into the bedroom and sat on his bed. "So, friend… do you think you'll be able to get back to sleep?"

Yusuke nodded as he adjusted his pillow. "Yes. I think I will sleep much easier now," he answered as he eased down to his back on the couch. "Thank you, Akira."

"Any time," Akira answered with a warm smile as he clicked the light back off. "G'night, Yusuke."

With the room bathed in darkness, Yusuke settled back against the pillows and let his eyes drift closed. "Goodnight, Akira." The last thing that crossed Yusuke's mind, before he drifted off to sleep, was the warmth and kindness—the bright and unadulterated beauty—of Akira's smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOO BOY, THAT WAS AN ADVENTURE. One laden with nightmares and fears. XD
> 
> Thanks, as always, to the magnificent [NadaCreations](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NadaCreations/pseuds/NadaCreations) for betaing this mess and keeping me on track here!


	4. Chapter 4

Yusuke was utterly astounded by how simple it was for Dr. Takemi to install his new implant. He recalled hazily, back when Madarame installed his first one. The doctors had strapped Yusuke to a gurney and when he fought back, they had drugged him. He remembered awakening to a sharp pain in his temple and the high pitched screaming of the transmission being played and being forced to surrender to Madarame's control. The memory of only being able to fight back in short bursts and being punished for it every time was almost enough to make Yusuke emotional all over again.

He remembered the helpless, hopeless feeling he felt when he woke up that day, and compared it to how he felt after Dr. Takemi's procedure. Not only did he not feel any pain, but his particle abilities were stronger than before, and they were completely stable. In all the time he'd spent practicing on the Leblanc, they hadn't backfired even once. Of course, the only test he had done was on a dummy in the ship's training room, but it was enough to know the difference. Before, he'd been unable to do a simple particle attack without worry of it backfiring. That was enough for him to consider Mishima's new implant a success.

Now, Yusuke wasn't even aware of the implant any more than he was of his own breathing or the blood pumping in his veins. It was enough for him to almost forget it was there, as he walked alongside Akira through the Bastion. The Bastion was huge, unlike any space station Yusuke had ever seen before. The pair of them walked alongside the man-made lake on the way from the dock to the Velvet Corps offices, and he couldn't help but marvel at exactly how beautiful it was. Crystal clear water led down to grains of sand on the lake floor, and Yusuke could see their reflections in the distance as he examined it closely. The Bastion's artificial sky reflected off the bright blue water, and it looked almost like a second sky. It was an absolutely breathtaking sight, and Yusuke wished he had supplies to draw or paint it.

Madarame always stayed far away from the Bastion, primarily because his crimes and reputation disallowed him to get through the security checkpoint. Yusuke had feared much the same for himself, but a member of the Velvet Corps named Sae Niijima had allowed them through.

Yusuke couldn't deny his anxiety. Akira was taking him to meet with the Velvet Corps liaison, and his nerves rose higher with every step they took. The woman had shown sympathy to this point, but Yusuke had no idea if she would feel the same in person. At least, Yusuke decided, Akira and Makoto would be there to make things easier.

"Have you ever been to this part of the Bastion before?"

Akira's voice pulled Yusuke out of his own mind, and he jumped slightly, before glancing over at Akira and shaking his head. "I... don't recall ever having been to the Bastion at all, actually," he answered sheepishly.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Akira frowned. "Oh."

"Madarame was shamed away from places like this, because of his history with art theft," Yusuke explained. "So, we stayed primarily on our remote bases and only went to smaller cities." It had been truly limiting, and the driving factor regarding why everything on Madarame's bases was so shoddily made.

Akira frowned. "I guess that makes sense." After a pause, he shrugged and met Yusuke's eye again. "Well, you're here now. When we finish at Velvet, I'll show you around. Take you wherever you want to go. How's that sound?"

Blinking in surprise, Yusuke shook his head rapidly. "You... you don't have to do that, Akira! I'm sure you have other things you should be—"

"I want to," Akira cut him off gently. "Just try and think about where you want to go, okay? The Bastion has pretty much everything you could ever want. I think one of the wards even has a small amusement park. Just let me know."

As they walked, Yusuke regarded Akira closely, considering the captain's kindness. He was a respectable captain, and his teammates had told Yusuke all sorts of marvelous things about him. Haru had told Yusuke how Akira was always willing to stick his neck out for people who needed him, that she wouldn't be alive if not for his assistance. Ann had told Yusuke that Akira always looked out for others, and that he occasionally had a hard time accepting assistance for himself because he didn't want to bother people or make them worry about him. Ryuji's stories were all based more on Akira's combat prowess than any emotion or kindness. According to Ryuji, Akira was a remarkable particle user and he 'single-handedly kept the team from dying at the hands of assholes all the time.'

Makoto told Yusuke that Akira, despite having been on his own since the age of thirteen, still made sure he and all of his friends were educated. She explained how that was the reason he'd hired Sadayo Kawakami onto the crew. Kawakami had gone from teacher to glorified, paid, ship mother. She cleaned the ship, helped Sojiro cook, and was always willing to lend an ear when someone needed her. Futaba and Mishima talked Akira up endlessly as well. Futaba regarded Akira as an older brother, and Yusuke thought that, perhaps, Mishima looked up to him like a hero. It made the story they told Yusuke, about Akira being the reason they started dating a few years back, all the sweeter.

Between all the kind words Akira's teammates had about him, and how kind he had been Yusuke in general, Yusuke wasn't sure how he got so lucky as to be saved by a group like this. He was endlessly grateful, though.

Every now and then, Yusuke still caught Akechi glaring at him, showing anger and disapproval at his presence on the ship. The rest of the crew made an effort to support him through it. Haru and Akira were especially supportive. Haru was an unexpected friend. She supported Yusuke like the rest of the team, but there was something woeful in her support as well, almost like she felt some sort of responsibility for it. Yusuke was curious, but he was fully aware that her secrets were hers alone.

Akira, however, was another matter entirely. Yusuke had learned many things about him. Akira liked to cook, he loved to listen to music on the ship, and liked to sing along with his radio when things are quiet and there was nothing going on, he loved reading and video games. Each new thing he learned added a new layer of intrigue about this wonderfully kind man who somehow saw fit to save Yusuke's life.

Several times, Akira had suggested that Yusuke run with his desire to rediscover his own art. Yusuke remembered, as a young teenager when he was living on Earth's L3 space station, how he would spend all the time he wasn't scrounging for food, drawing and painting with expired paint and discarded supplies he'd found in the trash behind art supply stores. He never had the means to actually do anything special with it, but he remembered it being his passion. He had already gone back to drawing on any scrap of paper he could find on the ship, so perhaps, given the opportunity, he could rediscover his true passion again.

"I think," Yusuke finally spoke again, his tone sheepish and his eyes evasive, "I would like to see an art supply store. Perhaps to browse for after our first mission."

Akira smiled again. " _Or_ ," he countered, "I could just buy you some supplies while we're there and you can just pay me back later."

Yusuke shook his head. "No! I couldn't ask you to—"

"You didn't ask me to."

"Akira, I—"

Akira cut him off, placing a hand on his shoulder again. "Yusuke, I really don't mind. When we're done at Velvet, I know just the place. I can buy you a real sketchbook so you're not drawing on loose leaf. Maybe an easel, some paints, a palette, some canvases, some pencils, and charcoals..."

Embarrassment flooded Yusuke's face, and he immediately regretted bringing up the idea of going to an art supply store. His intent had only really been to look around, to get some ideas for something he could buy later on. Maybe Yusuke should have expected Akira to take the idea and run with it, though. He was kind and seemingly selfless like that. Still, he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed by the thought of Akira doing so much for him. "You truly don't have to..." he insisted.

"I want to."

"It's too much..." Yusuke insisted.

Akira shook his head. "It's not too much," he replied. "It's worth it to get you back in touch with your art."

The look in Akira's eyes—the same warm and friendly look Yusuke had grown accustomed to from the captain—was enough to make Yusuke's stomach flip around inside him. Every instinct still told Yusuke to insist that it wasn't necessary, but there was something in Akira's gaze... which suggested perhaps he _wanted_ to do this. "You're too kind," Yusuke murmured under his breath.

With a dauntless shrug, Akira answered, "You deserve it."

Yusuke looked away. "No. I—"

Before Yusuke could protest any further, Akira cut him off and stepped back into his field of vision. "Please?" he asked. "It would make me happy."

Though Yusuke was still hesitant, he forced himself to meet Akira's gaze. If it would make Akira happy, perhaps it was okay. Heat rushed to Yusuke's cheeks, and he nodded his head once before turning to look away from Akira again. "Very well," he muttered. "But I have every intention of paying you back every penny I owe you as soon as I am able."

Afterward, the pair of them fell into silence as Yusuke followed Akira the rest of the way to Velvet Corps. Once they arrived, Yusuke looked up at the building with wide eyes. The building was brick, which made it stand out from all the other buildings surrounding it. The bricks were royal blue, which was another stark contrast to the plain chrome and metal structures around it. Yusuke read the placard next to the door. 'Velvet Corps, ESTABLISHED: 2413.' The Velvet Corps had been around for over a hundred years, and Yusuke realized, given Madarame's age and how long he had been on the wrong side of the law, that they had likely been hunting him for at least a third of their existence.

Suddenly, Yusuke wondered if coming here was a mistake. He knew that he'd fought Velvet Corps troops before, though he was almost positive he had never personally killed any. Regardless, he feared that Akira's liaison here would want to put him in prison. Seeming to sense his uncertainty, Akira placed a hand on Yusuke's shoulder. The touch was warm, gentle, and made Yusuke jump a little bit. Yusuke turned, eyed Akira's hand and then let his eyes trail up to Akira's face.

"It's okay, Yusuke," Akira reassured him. "I'm here with you, okay? And Makoto will be inside, too."

Yusuke nodded, though his stomach still clenched tightly. "Yes, I know. I'm simply... concerned that I may have been forced to fight some of the people inside here."

Akira was still undaunted. "I know. Sae knows, too, and she's made sure everyone here understands your predicament. I promise," he vowed.

Yusuke breathed slowly to steel himself, nodded, and looked at the door. Slowly, with his heart pounding like a jackhammer in his chest, he followed Akira through the Velvet Corps doors. Yusuke wasn't sure what he was expecting. Perhaps he was expecting everything to come crashing to a halt when he walked through the doors; for people to leave their seats and charge at him, beating him to a pulp and forcing him to face the music for his crimes. Instead, somehow, no one even seemed to notice his existence.

Akira led Yusuke to Niijima-san's office, where Makoto and Akechi were already waiting. Yusuke was admittedly tentative to be around Akechi, especially with a woman like Niijima-san in the room with them, but both Akira and Makoto had assured him that her sister was sympathetic, and was completely fine with the concept of Yusuke working with the Phantom Pirates. As if to further prove that point, Niijima-san greeted them both with a gentle smile.

"I was wondering when you two would get there. You must be Kitagawa," Sae greeted.

"Yes," Yusuke replied shakily.

Niijima-san replied calmly. "There's no need to be so nervous, Kitagawa. Akira and Makoto have both filled me in on your situation and I can assure you, everyone here at Velvet Corps thinks the best place for you is on board the Leblanc," she assured him.

From behind her, Akechi simply snorted.

Pointedly ignoring Akechi, Sae continued. "Why don't the two of you come and have a seat?" she asked, gesturing to a row of four chairs on the opposite side of her desk. "We were just discussing Madarame. Makoto and I had wondered if, given your former connection to him, you may be able to help us."

Yusuke nodded. "Yes... I will help however I am able, Niijima-san," he answered tersely.

"No need for formalities. Call me Sae, please," she insisted.

Sae led Yusuke and Akira to her desk, where he took a seat in an empty chair. Akira and Makoto quickly occupied the seats on either side of him, and at first, Yusuke was curious as to why, but when Akechi sat down on the other side of Akira, realization dawned on him. As soon as he realized, embarrassment flooded his face, but he was also endlessly grateful for the separation. He was sure Akechi would much rather if Yusuke just disappeared.

Yusuke looked down at the Sae's desk, where a large map of the galaxy was spread out. She had marked Susano-o off with a large red X, which Yusuke assumed was related to how Akira's crew had just chased Madarame away from his Susano-o base.

"There is no way for us to know where he plans to go next," Akechi huffed in irritation. "For some reason, Akira's team was more concerned with rescuing the enemy than looking for clues—"

Makoto leveled Akechi with a glare. "You didn't find any information either, Akechi."

After a brief flash of a smug grin, Akechi shrugged nonchalantly. "Which is all the more reason to keep the squad _together_ , rather than separate us," he replied, almost as though he was addressing a child.

"Enough," Sae snapped, silencing them both quickly. "Both of you. What's done is done. Yes, it would have been great to get Madarame on Susano-o, or even some more information, but Akira did what he felt was best. It saved a life, which no one can truly call a loss. Maybe next time you'll be able to save even more."

Akechi's smile faded to a grimace, and he cast Yusuke a glare before turning to look back to his wrist display.

Despite the constant attacks on Akira's plan, Akira seemed unflinching in his trust in Yusuke. "Plus," he defended himself, "like Sae said, maybe he can help us out."

"I fail to see how _he_ —"

Akira cut Akechi off. "Yusuke, I know you were stuck in the corner of your mind, but do you remember anything? Anything about other bases, or where Madarame would go if he wanted to hide after a severe ass-kicking?" he asked, grinning at Yusuke and trying to build his confidence a bit.

Yusuke glanced at the galaxy map and thought carefully for a moment. Madarame had several backup bases, which he used to disappear when he needed to recuperate. Madarame had lost several synthetic bodyguards, plus Yusuke, who had been his personal bodyguard for over ten years, so it was much easier to narrow down where he might have gone. There were several different hideaways all over the galaxy, ones he used depending on how dire the situation was. When it was an easy recovery, he went to his base on Earth. When it was harder, when his forces were as damaged as they were by Akira's crew, he used a much more secluded base.

As Yusuke pondered, an amused chuckle came from the other side of the room. "See?" Akechi asked haughtily. "He can't help us. I don't understand why you're putting so much faith in a man who—"

"Akechi, let him think. You're interrupting him," Akira interrupted, his voice significantly less calm than usual.

Akechi was unfazed. "Oh yes, let the bodyguard whose mind was controlled by the very man we're trying to catch lead us right into a trap where all that man can ambush us with countless troops and kill us all," he mocked. "Kurusu, your bleeding heart really is—"

The argument was a distraction, and Yusuke tuned it out, letting Akechi's voice fade to the back of his mind. He focused carefully on the map and zeroed in on the Garu Cluster. He was vaguely aware that Makoto and Akechi were having a rather curt argument, which was carefully disguised in pleasantries, and that Sae and Akira were trying to stop it, but as Yusuke looked at each planet in the Garu Cluster, one stuck out in his mind.

Yusuke raised his voice in order to be heard over the argument. "Mercurius," he announced.

Akira looked from Yusuke to the map. "Mercurius?" he asked.

With a nod, Yusuke continued. "Yes. Mercurius. It's in the Garu Cluster," he explained, pointing at the planet on Sae's map. "There are several large settlements there, but Madarame has a base off the beaten path. There is a cave which goes deep underground, and it tunnels all over the planet, with exits near each of the settlements. He turned the central chamber of the cave into a rather lavish base. He uses it when he needs to recuperate from a large loss."

To no surprise, Akechi seemed skeptical. "Mercurius. You expect us to believe that a planet with over a million human settlers on it wouldn't notice a base like that? Zorro itself has over five hundred thousand people in it," he reminded them.

"However, a large part of the rest of the planet is unsettled, Akechi," Makoto countered. "It would be easy to sneak into such a cave undetected."

Sae nodded along with Makoto. "Yes, and many of the people who have settled Mercurius stay inside the city domes. The winds there make much of the planet difficult to travel unless you know exactly where you're going," she reminded Akechi.

"Madarame's shuttles are capable of navigating the winds," Yusuke confirmed.

Sighing in frustration, Akechi glanced from Yusuke to Sae. "I fail to see how it benefits us to take his advice, Sae-san," he protested flatly. "How do we know he isn't leading us directly into an ambush?"

Akira puffed out a slow breath, then said, "If you're so uncomfortable following the lead, Akechi, you're welcome to stay on the ship while the rest of us go to check it out."

The tension in the room was palpable, and Yusuke felt directly responsible. It seemed like Akira was going through hell with Akechi, trying to keep the man from letting loose on Yusuke. It made Yusuke's doubt rise even higher. Could he ever truly belong on a ship like the Leblanc, if someone like Akechi disapproved of Yusuke's presence so strongly? Akira's feelings notwithstanding, the Velvet Corps respected Akechi enough to make let him watch over the Leblanc's crew. How long would it be before the rest of the crew started to disapprove, too? Yusuke frowned and looked at his hands in his lap, but before he had a chance to dwell for too long, Sae called his attention.

"Kurusu, do you think your shuttles can handle Mercurius' winds?" she asked.

Akira nodded. "No question. Futaba reinforced them, and they're streamlined to the point that I'm pretty sure we could stay in the air even if we were flying against the wind. Plus, we have Mishima. Best pilot in the skies," he pointed out.

"That's true," Sae chuckled. "Kitagawa, do you think you can remember the layout of Madarame's base on Mercurius?" she asked.

Yusuke nodded. "Yes. I was there with him when he was drawing the maps to each town, so I can easily redraw them," he explained.

"That would be great," Akira told Yusuke, with a gentle and reassuring smile.

Behind Akira, Yusuke saw Akechi rolling his eyes and focusing back on his wrist display. Before Yusuke had much of a chance to worry, though, Sae addressed him again. "How long do you think Madarame will stay on Mercurius?" she asked.

After a brief pause to think, Yusuke raised his eyes to meet Sae's. "Akira and the others decimated the entirety of his synthetic guard. I would suspect he'll be there for at least two weeks. He will never believe anyone capable of finding him out there," he explained.

Sae nodded. "Right. Kitagawa is still on ordered bed rest, correct?" she asked.

"I can break it if we need to move quickly," Yusuke assured her.

Akira shook his head. "No. I think we should all rest on the Bastion for a few days, and we can go once we've restocked. Once you've had a chance to rest and get used to your new implant," he suggested.

Once Sae expressed her agreement with Akira's idea, everyone moved to go their separate ways. Akechi was the first one to leave Sae's office, and Makoto stayed behind even after Yusuke and Akira left. Yusuke smiled softly and watched over his shoulder as the sisters embraced one another, then started talking. It was nice to see them interacting, not as Velvet Corps leader and privateer strategist, but as sisters. Yusuke's gaze turned to Akira as they departed from Velvet HQ. When he noticed that Akira was smiling at him, all his thoughts died instantly.

"So," Akira lilted, "I think I promised you a shopping trip."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yusuke gets to help! :D
> 
> Thanks to [Nada](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NadaCreations/pseuds/NadaCreations) for betaing and for keeping me on track, as always!!! ♥


	5. Chapter 5

When Akira promised a shopping trip, Yusuke wasn't sure what he expected, but whatever he did expect, it was nothing like what he got. Akira spent far too much money. Each time Akira caught Yusuke looking at something, he would add it to their pile without question. At first, Yusuke protested the purchases, because it was just too much. After a while, it became clear that Akira wouldn't take no for an answer, and Yusuke simply stopped protesting.

After dropping all their purchases off at the Leblanc, Akira told Yusuke to grab one of the sketchpads he'd just bought and follow Akira's lead.

"This whole day has been me following your lead, Akira," Yusuke answered with a soft smile, red tinting his cheeks.

Akira smirked and shrugged a shoulder. "So, indulge me again. I promise, you won't regret it!"

Yusuke didn't hesitate to do as Akira asked. He gathered his favorite of the sketchbooks Akira had bought for him, which was conveniently the easiest to carry, and then followed his captain's lead again. They left the Leblanc, and headed back out into the Bastion's docking area. At first, Yusuke wasn't sure where Akira was taking him. Part of him expected to get back into the sky taxi, but when Akira walked right past the taxi port and to an elevator on the far side of the Bastion's docking area, Yusuke realized he was wrong.

When Akira pushed the very top button on the elevator, Yusuke wondered where they were going. The Bastion was massive, and Yusuke wasn't sure how high the wall went. The dock seemed to have a never-ending wall separating it from the rest of the Bastion, so Yusuke was endlessly curious. His anticipation grew higher and higher alongside the elevator's climb. Several times, the elevator stopped to let other people on and off, but for the last few floors, they were by themselves.

For those last few quiet floors, Yusuke turned to watch Akira again. He carefully examined the captain's posture and face. Akira looked calm, almost serene, but from a passing glance, Yusuke could almost see the swirling tempest going on inside his mind. He was such an intriguing person. Yusuke wondered what he thought about in quiet moments like this. What made his mind work? What was he feeling?

The sound of the elevator dinging before the doors opened caught Yusuke's attention, and he quickly turned his gaze out the door. When they opened, Yusuke's curiosity was rewarded with a sight so remarkable it stole the breath from his lungs. Slowly, with quiet steps, Yusuke walked out of the elevator and into a large, glass-domed area, which seemed to be at the very top of the Bastion. A quick glance forward showed that they were actually outside of the Bastion's walls. Yusuke looked down, and all he could see were the silver outer walls of the space station. Several turrets sat inactive, ready to fire in the event that the Bastion was ever attacked. There were maintenance hatches and several long dipping hallways… it was quite a sight to behold.

However, the sight paled in comparison to what Yusuke saw when he tilted his head upward.

There, right over his head, was an unobstructed view of the Metaverse Expanse. The Bastion orbited the Metaverse's star, which was plain to see in the distance, but Yusuke was more enraptured with what was overhead. The sky almost appeared to be tinted purple and green from this view, and it was almost like he could see each and every star. Yusuke craned his neck higher and higher, trying to see more and more, until he tilted his head so far back that he almost fell over.

"Unbelievable," Yusuke whispered before he could stop himself.

Akira's soft laugh caught Yusuke's attention, and when Yusuke looked Akira's way, he saw a warm and radiant smile on the captain's face. "Like what you see?"

Yusuke nodded. "Yes, very much so," he admitted.

"Good," Akira replied softly. "I've been trying to think of the prettiest places the Bastion has to offer all day, and when we were on our way back to the dock from the shopping district, I remembered the observatory. Most of the time, this place is pretty quiet, so I come up when I need to get away from the universe for a while."

Without realizing it, Yusuke walked up to the glass. Evidently, it was his mind's subconscious effort to get closer to the stars. "How could a place like this ever be empty?" he asked arbitrarily.

Akira puffed out a short breath of laughter. "People get caught up in their own lives pretty easily, I guess. Everyone does it. When you get so caught in your own mind, you forget that there's a great big universe out there. Billions of other people with their own lives and their own struggles. Sure, there are people who have it better than you, but there are people who have it worse, too. Being here, looking at the stars and realizing that each of those stars has a system around it—and that each of those systems might have planets with life on them, people or aliens with their own struggles and sadnesses—reminds you that your life isn't so bad."

For a second, Akira paused, hummed to himself, then muttered, "Yours won't be bad anymore, Yusuke. I promise."

The tone of Akira's voice was surprising to Yusuke. It was soft, but it was also deep and rumbling, like it was less of a somber vow and more of a protective declaration. Truth be told, Yusuke wasn't sure what he'd done to warrant protection. All he had done so far was make Akira's life more difficult, and yet Akira still saw fit to show him kindness. Yusuke glanced out at the sky beyond the glass dome, and then back over at Akira, frowning.

"You have already done plenty for me, Akira. You gave me freedom and a home. You allowed me onto your crew. You gave me friendship and showed me that I am more than a puppet. It isn't your job to protect me…" Yusuke murmured sadly.

Akira shrugged. "Maybe. But you're my friend. I protect my friends, Yusuke. However I can."

Yusuke's met Akira's gaze, and for a moment, Yusuke wasn't sure which shone brighter: the stars or Akira's eyes. "Your kindness is… so much more than I deserve. Anyone else would have thrown me into a jail cell…" In fact, Yusuke thought of Akechi, and how many times he'd claimed to want to do just that, "but thanks to you, I have a chance to confront Madarame as well."

"Yusuke, listen," Akira murmured as he approached the glass and stood next to Yusuke, looking out at the stars in the distance. "What matters now isn't what you did, it's what you do. Your life isn't just a new chapter, it's…" He paused, chuckled, then gestured to the sketchbook under Yusuke's arm. "It's a blank, empty sketchbook, waiting for you to cover the pages with your _own_ art, not the art of some megalomaniacal slave driver who couldn't cut it as an artist."

The sentiment wasn't lost on Yusuke, and he removed the sketchpad from under his arm to look at the front cover. "I've always been fond of a good metaphor," he mused with a half-hearted smile.

Akira nodded, but continued speaking before Yusuke had a chance to speak up again. "No one on my team is completely innocent, not even me. Even the people who stay on the ship have slightly checkered pasts, but my ground team? We've all killed. Not all of us as members of the Phantom Pirates, either," he murmured quietly.

Yusuke was quiet as he considered what Akira was saying. Of course, being privateers and going after vicious criminals, Yusuke didn't think they had completely clean records. Just because they'd fought Yusuke's former compatriots with the intent not to kill, didn't mean they were able to extend the same courtesy to other enemies. Yusuke wasn't truly under the impression that the group hadn't killed before. However, one part of what Akira said had him thinking. 'Not all of us as members of the Phantom Pirates either.' Ultimately, it didn't matter, and Yusuke knew it. Everyone had a past, and no one deserved to be judged based on that past. He wasn't judging, of course. He was, however, curious.

Akira Kurusu was a wonderful, beautiful, brilliant man. Everything about him spoke to Yusuke, lighting the flame of his creativity and several other feelings Yusuke wasn't ready to recognize yet. Nothing about Akira's past would change the way Yusuke thought of him, because the past was truly in the past. However, Yusuke couldn't deny more than his fair share of curiosity about what had turned Akira into the person he was today. What had _he_ done? Yusuke couldn't see him doing anything too bad.

"And as for jail? Don't even worry about it, okay? For the most part, I don't think you'll have any issue with anyone on the crew trying to lock you up," Akira insisted, his face drawing ever deeper into a frown. "Even as far as Akechi goes, he can't do anything on the ship without clearing it with me first."

It seemed like there was no love lost between Akira and Akechi, and Yusuke was curious about that as well. "He seems to think otherwise."

With a soft laugh, Akira nodded. "He thinks wrong, though. Velvet sent him to keep us on the right side of the law, but Sae knows us. I mean, her sister is one of us. I'm not gonna lie and try to say Akechi doesn't contribute. He does. He's a great strategist. Without him and Makoto, we probably wouldn't have survived this long. But…" He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "He thinks he's a lot more important than he is."

"I understand his skepticism," Yusuke admitted. "I am a foreign element who invaded his comfort zone, and for all he knows, I still hold some sort of twisted allegiance to Madarame."

The fact that Akira laughed at the concept shouldn't have made Yusuke feel as good as it did. "Let him be skeptical," Akira continued. "He's skeptical of everything. Of me, of the others, I think he's even skeptical of himself sometimes."

Yusuke laughed softly. "He seems to have a rather fraught relationship with most of the crew," he mused.

For a second, there was a flicker of worry in Akira's gaze as he looked at Yusuke, and while Yusuke was curious, he didn't get a chance to ruminate for too long. Akira's reply broke his concentration. "Yeah," he nodded. "I've always thought that it comes from the fact that he used to run his own crew with Velvet, and now he's following my orders. I don't think he's ever forgiven Sae for putting him on our crew. And…"

"And?" Yusuke tilted his head curiously.

Akira laughed under his breath, then glanced out at the stars again. "It's… stupid. For a while, he was… interested in me. I turned him down, because I wasn't interested in him, and he didn't take it very well," he admitted, a light dusting of red tinting his cheeks. "I'm pretty sure he still holds it against me."

The flash of jealousy Yusuke felt that moment was both unwanted and utterly humiliating. The jealousy had no place, for a multitude of reasons. First of all, whatever feelings Akechi had for Akira, Akira had just said he didn't reciprocate them and that was part of the reason Akechi was so unpleasant. Second of all, and perhaps most importantly, Akira was a relative stranger to him. He had no place to feel jealous over a new friend's past. The jealousy was still there, though. It was an ugly emotion and Yusuke hated it.

"A shame," Yusuke remarked, instead of putting his jealousy out on display. "On a crew as pleasant as yours, there shouldn't be discord."

Akira frowned. "It's okay. If everything was perfect, and everyone agreed all the time, I think it would be just as bad. As… frustrating as he is sometimes, his disagreements make us consider the opposite sides of arguments when we all would've just agreed otherwise," he mused.

Pragmatism was exactly what Yusuke expected of a captain like Akira. Regardless, the fact that Akechi was so determined to contest such a kind and trusted leader, just because of some unreciprocated feelings, said many things about him and none of them were particularly good. Akira seemed to be at peace with it, however, so Yusuke chased the thoughts away—as well as that nagging and unpleasant sense of jealousy—and glanced back out at the stars, watching as a ship took off from the dock. This was a truly relaxing place. Yusuke hadn't really seen anything quite like it before.

"So," Akira started, "all the stuff we bought today should help you get back into the swing of things with art, right?"

The question was such a tone shift that it took Yusuke off guard and caused him to snap his attention back to Akira, blinking rapidly while his mind struggled to catch up. "I… oh. Yes, definitely," he answered with a nod. "This was also the perfect sojourn to get my creativity going again. Looking out at the system, ideas seem to be flowing into my mind at a steady pace."

Akira nodded. "Good. Having an outlet is really helpful when you do what we do," he explained. "Everyone on the crew has that one thing they go to, you know? Ryuji trains, Ann likes fashion. Futaba and Mishima watch a lot of anime together. Haru has the garden I showed you in the cargo bay. Makoto studies, tries to learn everything the galaxy has to offer her. Even Akechi reads in his spare time. You know, something we do to take our minds off things when they get to be too much. It happens a lot more than you think."

"What about you?" Yusuke asked before he could stop himself.

At first, Akira simply looked at Yusuke in surprise, like he didn't expect the question. Then, he shrugged and glanced out at the stars again. "Music. I know you've seen that guitar in our room, right?"

'Our room.' The distinction took Yusuke off guard for a moment, and during that moment, he simply regarded Akira in stunned silence. When his brain finally caught up, he nodded. "Yes. I think I planned to ask you about it at some point, but before I had a chance, Makoto called you away."

"Yeah, that'll happen," Akira murmured, amused. "When I have free time, I like to play. I have a music collection with all kinds of old stuff from centuries ago, and even some stuff from the 1900's. I sort of… like to keep that stuff alive, you know? I feel like it has more soul than new music. So, I listen to it, and I teach myself to play it, too. Just for fun. I don't get to do it as often as I'd like."

Yusuke managed a smile, despite the way Akira was refusing to meet his eye. It seemed that Akira Kurusu was the type to take care of others, but insist in his ability to care for himself. As the captain of a ship with as many crewmembers as the Leblanc had, it made sense. He wanted to put forward an untouchable, unshakable air. His crew needed to see him as confident and self-assured all the time. In the back of Yusuke's mind, he wondered if Akira ever had a hard time maintaining that certainty. He had a lot on his shoulders. Not only because he was the leader of the Leblanc's crew, but because the Velvet Corps had put so much trust in him,

Before Yusuke could stop himself, he spoke up again. "You should take time for yourself as well," he pointed out.

Akira chuckled. "Yeah, I know I should. It's one of those things that's easy to talk about, but when the time comes to do it, there's always seven more things in desperate need of my attention," he murmured.

"Does it ever weigh too heavy?" Yusuke asked.

With a one-shouldered shrug, Akira worried his lip "Sometimes. Only when we have a really big mission, you know? When there's a lot riding on our success, it's harder to think of my own needs, and by the end, I'm so exhausted that I don't want to do anything but sleep for a week," he admitted, laughing sheepishly and rubbing the back of his neck.

Yusuke couldn't help but notice that Akira still wasn't meeting his eyes. "You know," he murmured, his voice soft, but echoing loud within the glass dome of the observatory, "you said I could rely on you, but… I want you to know that you can rely on me, too."

"Yusuke, you don't have to worry about—"

Before Akira could finish his sentence, Yusuke interrupted with a shake of his head. "I don't have to worry about anything, I'm fully aware of that," he answered with a soft smile. "However, we're supposed to be friends, are we not?"

Akira let out a puff of air which vaguely resembled a laugh. "Yeah, we are," he agreed.

"And friendship is a two-way street is it not?" Yusuke continued.

Finally, Akira looked Yusuke's way, with a weak smile on his face. "It is," he agreed. "I just know you have a lot on your mind right now. I mean, ten years of being in forced service to some old man's whims doesn't just go away overnight, does it?"

Yusuke huffed an amused note and shook his head. "No, it doesn't," he agreed. "However, perhaps it would help me to be relied upon, as much as it would help me to rely on someone else."

Akira laughed more genuinely this time. "Cornered me with that one, didn't you?" he asked with a grin.

"It seems in the short amount of time since you freed me, I've managed to regain my silver tongue," Yusuke responded with a wry smirk.

While Akira had never outright agreed to rely on Yusuke, Yusuke had to think that, with the offer out there, he'd be more open to the idea. While he didn't think Akira's friends were selfish enough to purposely ignore their captain's worries, it seemed Akira was quite skilled at wearing his mask and projecting untouchability. He was sure they were aware of it. They were all so kind, and they all cared so much about each other that they had to be. Perhaps, if Akira would allow it, Yusuke could repay some of his debt by being a proper friend and supporting Akira in this way.

"Hey," Akira's voice broke the silence.

"Hm?"

"So, I just realized that you probably don't have a place to stay when we're not on the ship, do you?" Akira asked calmly, his gaze finally turning from the stars outside to meet with Yusuke's.

Yusuke shook his head. "I don't," he answered. "I assumed I would just stay on the ship and—"

Akira cut him off. "No," he answered. "You don't have to stay on the ship. I have this really big apartment on the eighth ward of the Bastion. It's a nice place, and… there's room for two there, if you want. I have a spare bedroom. No bed yet, but we could look into it while we're here. If you want, you can be my roommate?"

To say that the offer took Yusuke completely off guard would have been a rather large understatement. Nothing they'd been talking about had anything to do with living arrangements. However, out of the blue, Akira came up with a brand new way to surprise Yusuke. At first, all Yusuke could do was stare at Akira in wide-eyed shock while he processed the information. Slowly, his mind began to click into place, and he puffed out a breath of laughter.

"You are certainly the master of taking me by surprise, Akira," Yusuke mused. "Pleasant surprise, but surprise no less."

Chuckling warmly, Akira shrugged. "Good. You deserve some good surprises. So, what do you think?"

Yusuke nodded. "I think it's another kindness that I will inevitably have to repay. Are you positive? If there is no bed, I am fine with sleeping on the couch and—"

"You're not sleeping on the couch. I think you're underestimating how much money this crew makes, Yusuke," Akira pointed out with a little grin. "I have the money to afford a bed, and before you say anything, I really don't need or want you to pay me back. If I don't spend the money, it'll just sit there."

"I… I couldn't ask you to—"

Akira shook his head. "You didn't," he pointed out with a smile. "I offered."

Despite the kindness, Yusuke couldn't help but frown. He was, of course, grateful for the offer and he planned to accept it and stay at Akira's apartment as long as Akira allowed him to. However, Akira's refusal to allow Yusuke to pay him back felt like more kindness Yusuke didn't deserve. Akira was a wonderful person. He was kind and amazing beyond all belief. What power in the universe had seen fit to bring such a wonderful and incredible man into Yusuke's life?

"If you don't want to, I'm not gonna make you, Yusuke. I just—"

Yusuke cut Akira off and shook his head. "No. No, I don't… I do want to. I simply feel like you're offering me too much without expecting anything in return."

With a little chuckle, Akira shrugged. "Maybe," he mused. "Doesn't mean I'm gonna take it back, though."

"Well then… I suppose this means we're going to be roommates both on land and in the air, doesn't it?" Yusuke finally answered.

Akira smirked, then nodded. "Guess it does. I just hope you don't get sick of me," he joked.

Between Akira's smirk and the happiness in those gray-blue eyes, Yusuke felt like his heart was trying to grow wings and flutter out of his chest. In spite of himself, he couldn't help but answer, "I don't think such a thing is possible."

When Akira laughed and turned his head to glance back out at the stars, Yusuke watched him for a few more seconds. In that instant, Yusuke began to realize exactly how much trouble he was in. Akira's unrivaled kindness, his intelligence, his _beauty_ … and the way Yusuke's heart felt like it was going to flutter out of his chest every time their eyes met? The way Yusuke felt erred dangerously close to romantic. Knowing how little he deserved such affections from a man like Akira, however, Yusuke decided to keep the secret close to his heart.

There was no chance someone like Akira would ever feel the same way, anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND THEY WERE ROOMMATES. XD
> 
> And so we've reached the end of part 2, and the end of what I have written so far! I still have pretty epic plans for this, but I'm gonna write this casually between other projects! I hope you're okay with the wait!
> 
> Thanks, as ever, to the wonderful [Nada](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NadaCreations/pseuds/NadaCreations) for reading it over and keeping me on track! ♥

**Author's Note:**

> FIND ME!  
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/lizibabbles) ;; [tumblr](http://lizibabbles.tumblr.com/)


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